Exploration
by Moofy-Fan
Summary: Six year old Prince Myrrha decides to sneak out of the palace one day to see his aunt's caravan, reluctantly allowing Keane to tag along with him. The two are rather surprised by what they happen to find. Pre-series. Oneshot.


Okay, so I randomly got this idea, and it would not leave me alone until I wrote it. So yay, random cute oneshot and Keane and Husky when they were little. Really, I'm surprised I haven't done something like this yet. Oh, and just for the record, Keane calls Husky 'Myrrha' here because it's before they've came up with that nickname.

Exploration

Six year old Prince Myrrha slowly peeked his head around the doorframe. The silver haired child frowned in concentration at the sight of the guard standing by the harem exit. There had to be some sort of way to get past her. A distraction, or-

"Hi Myrrha. What are you doing?" the young boy jolted at the loud voice, quickly spinning on his heels and shushing the person behind him before turning to glance around the corner at the guard once again. She was still there, thankfully, and didn't seem to have noticed the boys.

"Nothing, go away Keane," he whispered, waving the older boy away without even glancing back at him. The redhead frowned almost immediately, crossing his arms in a huff.

"If you don't tell me what you're doing then I'm telling!" the nine year old declared, once again causing Myrrha to turn his attention away from the guard.

"You'll tell on me for what? You don't know what I'm doing," Myrrha fought back, forgetting about keeping his voice low incase of alerting the guard. Keane stared at him for a moment, not entirely sure how to counter that, before pouting slightly and turning around.

"For keeping secrets! You must be doing _something_ bad if you don't want anyone to know!" he yelled, starting down the hallway to find someone to tell. Grimacing slightly, the younger boy quickly swallowed his pride and chased after him before he could get too far away.

"_Fine!_ but you can't tell anyone," Myrrha conceded, rolling his eyes at the way Keane instantly turned back around, smiling again. "Aunty Crystala's visiting today, all of her caravany stuff is outside already," he started. The redhead just nodded, blinking slightly with a look of confusion on his face.

"Yeah, but what's that gotta do with anything?" he asked.

"Let me finish. I wanna see it, but I have to find a way around the guards to get outside first," he explained. Keane nodded once again, confusing Myrrha with the sudden concentration on his face. Before he was able to ask what he was thinking about, a smile broke out on the older boy's face.

"_I _know a way out of the palace," the redhead declared confidently, surprising Myrrha. He was about to ask Keane where when he continued, "_but_, you have to let me come with you!" he demanded, causing Myrrha to frown once again. Glancing back around the doorway to see the guard again, he reluctantly nodded.

"Okay, you can come, but you better not get us caught," he said, Keane instantly nodding before grabbing his wrists and dragging the younger boy down the hallway. Myrrha quickly pulled himself out of his grip, frowning as they walked farther and farther into the palace.

"I thought you said you knew a way _out,_" he grumbled, watching as Keane just nodded, stopping at random wall next to one of the staircases. Without bothering to explain anything to the silver boy, he started looking down both ends of the hallway before turning back towards the wall. Myrrha crossed his arms in annoyance as Keane felt along one edge, until the redhead pulled the wall _open. _The child's arms instantly fell to his side, eyes widening in shock as Keane just turned around proudly.

"Well?" he asked a bit smugly as Myrrha just stared in amazement. The silver child quickly shook his head, taking a few steps towards the secret passageway. Looking in, it seemed to be a staircase that led downward.

"How'd you find this?" he asked at last, taking a step inside. Keane quickly followed him, shutting the 'door' behind them. To Myrrha's surprise, it didn't become completely dark, several small torches he hadn't noticed before keeping the place lit just enough for them to be able to find their way.

"You've heard about the secret passages, right? I wanted to see if I could find one, and I did," the redhead explained, Myrrha nodding slightly as they made their way. It took quite a bit longer than the six year old would have thought it would to reach the bottom, but eventually the two found themselves end of the passage. Once again Keane started feeling along the edge of the wall, before pushing forward and watching the seemingly solid stone open up in front of them.

Myrrha instantly shielded his eyes from the bright light, having adjusted to the darkness. After a few seconds he lowered his hand, stepping out of the tunnel and glancing around.

"See? Told ya I knew a way out of the palace," Keane said. Reluctantly Myrrha nodded, he had to give him that, at least.

"Let's try to find Aunty Crystala's caravan," he decided, starting forward. The older boy quickly followed him, the two walking along the outer edge of the large palace.

Myrrha quickly took a few steps back, hiding himself behind the curve of the building once a few carts came into sight. The sudden stop caused Keane to run into him from behind, the nine year old almost falling to the ground before steadying himself and shooting a glare at the younger boy.

"Hey! What are you-" he started, Myrrha once again shushing him before turning to look back around the corner. Frowning, Keane glanced around the silver boy to see what it was he was looking at, quickly figuring out why he'd stopped.

"How are we gonna get closer?" Myrrha asked after a moment, watching the many people surrounding the string of huge carts. The redhead was silent for a moment, looking the area over as well. Before he could figure out a way, Myrrha pointed at one of the carts a bit farther off from the others.

"There. No one's by that one," he declared, and Keane quickly nodded in agreement. Watching to make sure no one was looking their way to notice them, the two boys quickly snuck up to the back of the large cart, peeking around the edge once they made it to make sure no one had seen.

"Okay, let's see what's inside," the redhead said after a moment, and Myrrha quickly nodded, pushing himself into the back of the cart with a bit of difficulty. Keane followed suit, only having a bit of less trouble since he was slightly taller. Looking around, the redhead frowned at the mostly empty cart, nothing but a few wooden boxes stacked off to one side.

"Well, this is boring," he mumbled, kicking at the wooden floor before turning towards Myrrha. The silver boy didn't pay him any mind, cocking his head curiously and walking up to a large curtain dividing the cart in half.

"What's this doing here?" he asked, pulling it back just far enough to allow him to look through. Peering inside, the child gasped, letting the curtain fall back and taking a step away. It instantly caught the older boy's attention, who immediately turned away from the boxes and started over to where Myrrha had managed to pull himself back together and was peeking around the curtain once again.

"What? Whatcha find? Something neat?" the redhead asked, not waiting for Myrrha to answer as he pulled a part of the curtain back as well. Keane let go immediately though, eyes widening in shock before stumbling as fast as he could to the opposite side of the cart.

"M-Myrrha! Get _away _from there!" Keane practically screeched, but Myrrha simply waved away his concern, continuing to stare in shock and fascination.

"Relax, will you? It's in a cage," he said, not looking back as the redhead slowly started forward once again, much more cautiously this time around. Hesitantly he started to peek through a slit in the curtain again, sighing in relief at seeing what the younger boy had said to be true.

"What _is _it?" Keane whispered after a moment, watching the strange beast tear sloppily into a chunk of uncooked meat.

"I think… it's a +anima," Myrrha whispered back, holding tightly onto the curtain. Keane's eyes widened in shock, his head shooting to look at the younger boy.

"_That's _a +anima? !"he asked in amazement, the silver child not taking his eyes off the beast as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I donno, but what else could it be?" he asked back, and reluctantly Keane nodded, turning to look at the strange being once again. Both boys were so concentrated on the beast that they didn't hear someone else walking into the cart, raising an eyebrow at the sight of them.

"What are you two doing out here?" Both boys immediately spun around, staring up in shock at the tall blonde woman standing at the entryway to the cart.

"A-aunty Crystala!" Myrrha stuttered, glancing over his shoulder towards where the locked up +anima was, but unable to see it through the curtain now. Before he was able to say anything else though, Keane cut him off.

"It was Myrrha's idea!" he yelled, pointing towards the younger boy. Myrrha's eyes instantly widened in shock, and he turned angrily towards the redhead.

"_What? !_ You're the one who showed me how to get out of the palace in the first place!" he yelled back. Before the two were able to get into a full out fight Crystala sighed, taking a step towards them and distracting the boys.

"Stop that, you two aren't in trouble," she said calmly, surprising them both. They quickly glanced at each other before looking back at their aunt.

"We're not?" Myrrha asked, and the woman simply shook her head.

"No, but you are going straight back to the palace," she said. Myrrha and Keane quickly frowned in disappointment, but didn't say anything. They knew they were just lucky to not be getting in trouble for sneaking out of the palace. Before they left the cart though, the silver haired boy glanced back towards the curtain, a look of uncertainty on his face.

"Aunty? What is that back there? Is it really a +anima?" he asked, watching as the blonde woman sighed softly under her breath as she ushered the two out, helping them get down from the cart without hurting themselves.

"Yes," she said simply. Before she was able to go on however, Keane cut her off with his own question.

"Really? Are they all crazy like that?" he asked, the shock and fear in his voice clear. Crystala quickly shook her head, starting to explain as the three walked.

"Not at all. It's very rare for a +anima to end up that way. Sometimes though, the trauma of the transformation is too much for them to handle, and they loose themselves to the anima. It's a very sad situation," she said. Myrrha simply nodded, fascination clear on his face as he listened to his aunt. Keane just frowned though, still seeming confused about the whole thing.

"But, +anima are slaves, right? If this one's all crazy and dangerous and stuff, then why would you buy him in the first place?" he asked, causing his aunt to sigh once again. Myrrha frowned, not having thought of that before, and looked up at the tall woman, now equally as confused.

"If I didn't, then he would probably end up being killed, possibly hurting someone beforehand as well," she explained calmly, although it didn't appear to appease the redhead any.

"But if it's _crazy_-" he started, Crystala cutting the boy off before he could finish.

"That doesn't mean he deserves to die, Keane," he said simply. The redhead huffed slightly, crossing his arms in annoyance that he still didn't understand, but kept himself from saying anything else. Soon, the three found themselves back in the palace, Crystala quickly taking the boys all the way back to the fourth floor of the harem before stopping.

"Now, don't go sneaking out of the palace again, understand? I can't promise you two will be getting off as easily next time," she said, and both boys quickly nodded.

"Yes Aunty Crystala," they answered in unison, proceeding to glare at each other when they realized. Crystala simply smiled slightly in amusement before turning to leave the two. The second the blonde woman was out of sight Myrrha turned back towards Keane, still angry about the way he'd immediately blamed the whole situation on him once they were found.

"Snitch," he spat, surprising the older boy. That surprise quickly turned to anger, Keane starting to glare right back at Myrrha.

"Baby," he shot back, watching as the silver haired boy crossed his arms indignantly.

"Coward!" Myrrha yelled.

"Girl!" Keane fought back.

"Idiot!"

"_Stupid northerner!"_

"_Red haired freak!"_

"Boys! Stop fighting!" Crystala yelled from down the hallway, surprising the two quite a bit. They quickly spun away from each other, ignoring the other as they answered, once again in unison much to their individual annoyance.

"Yes aunty!" they called. Glaring at each other once again, the two quickly started down opposite ends of the hallway to their own rooms. Slamming his door, Myrrha quickly flopped down on his large bed, still angry with Keane. Sighing into his pillow, the six year old guessed it wasn't that bad. Leaving the palace had been pretty cool, after all.

* * *

There ya go. Like I said, just some cute little Husky and Keane stuff, because I love these two. Also, because in the second book when Husky was talking about that mad anima he saw, he looked _really _young, so I figured it had to have been when he was still at the palace, but what in the world would something like that be doing there. Thus this was born.

Anyway, I hoped you liked it. As always, thanks for reading, and please review.


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